Ill. cop killer, denied parole, dies in prison

Lifelong criminal Henry Michael Gargano, 79, died behind bars

Editor's Note: Henry Gargano was denied parole thanks in large part to the actions of PoliceOne members who spoke out against letting him walk free.

By PoliceOne Staff

CHICAGO — A former Chicago inmate who killed two police officers in a bank robbery died in prison, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Henry Michael Gargano, 79, died October 13 in a North Carolina federal medical correctional center, the Federal Bureau of Prisons stated in a notice sent Wednesday. He suffered two heart attacks while behind bars and took at least a dozen prescription medications.

PoliceOne columnist Chuck Remsberg outlines Gargano’s lengthy criminal history, which began with a trip to a juvenile delinquency center at age 14 for a restaurant burglary. “At 17, he robbed a grocery store with a sawed-off shotgun,” Remsberg stated. “At 20, committed armed robbery of a law firm and at 24, knocked over an Indiana bank.”

In the most startling incident, Gargano – with the help of two other masked gunmen – stood over the already-wounded bodies of Sgt. John Nagle and Officer Anthony Perri of the Northlake (Ill.) PD and murdered them, Resmberg wrote. He reportedly fired multiple rounds and injured two other officers in the incident that began as a bank robbery.